Michael Moore's Sicko...

[sabre09923 0]

I haven't seen it, but what I'm guessing is the Moore glorifies the French system, which is ranked #1 in that list they use. Well, France does have a relatively good health care system, but the French have to pay A TON of taxes.

[Allsmokenopancake 0]

I haven't seen it, but what I'm guessing is the Moore glorifies the French system, which is ranked #1 in that list they use. Well, France does have a relatively good health care system, but the French have to pay A TON of taxes.

Compare what a family pays monthly for insurance, if not subsidized by an employer, you are talking about $800 or more for a family of 4.

Add that to what you pay in taxes over a year, thats $9600 per year, divided by 2 (husband and wife), and you are at $4800 each.

Add that to your taxes instead of paying it to a company and see how much more they pay.

Back home our tax bracket starts at 20% for minimum wage, up to 42%.

Thats a ton of taxes.

My mother is a housewife, my father was a carpenter who died when I was 14. Because of other people paying high taxes, I got healthcare, and a degree (we have universal healthcare and free education in Ireland).

Without that, there would be a lot of uneducated and unemployed Irish at home.

There is no point paying lip service to trying to help the poor, like being a compassionate conservative, or a bleeding heart liberal, if you don't put your money where your mouth it.

I think Sicko raises some ok points, but Moore is an idiot, and talks to the listener/viewer like they are idiots and need everything broke down to the lowest common denominator.

Higher taxes are not a bad thing, but only if used right, which is seldom the case here

[sabre09923 0]

Right. You win, Allsmoke. I don't doubt that Moore put a pretty bad spin on this movie, just like his other two movies. He is a master at careful and crafty editing, which eliminates any of the, say "Cuban healthcare is good, but..."s from his film. Although, on CNN, he whined a lot, which was pretty hilarious.

Hilarious Interview

[ExitTwoEighty 7]

unfortunately the majority of people today are idiots and do need these points broken down for them.

[mrusse01 0]

Say what you want about Moore, but he is not dumb.

On the one hand a government run universal health care system will be non-profit, so by that token it could cost less than a privately administered system. But on the other hand, government run programs are inherently inefficient, so it is quite possible that a privately run system would still be cheaper on an average cost per person basis even with large profits, although of course you are going to have inequality.

So it basically comes down to a moral dilemma, not an economic one. Is it the responsibility of the government to provide free access to health care for all it's citizens? Do we have a duty as a society to ensure a minimum level of health services for everyone? Tough questions. I don't pretend to know the answer, or even have a fully formed opinion, I can see both arguments...but I must admit it is pretty cool in Canada to just walk into your Doctor's office whenever you want and you never have to worry about paying for anything, it truly is one of the 'free' (I know our taxes pay for it) experiences I can think of in life. You just flash a health card and that's it, you have access to everything from a check up for a common cold all the way to a heart transplant, no charge.